Open Web Space Changes: FAQ

I heard there will be some changes to open Web spaces on campus. What is changing?

Existing open Web spaces living at people.uwec.edu/username will remain unchanged.

Existing open Web spaces living on the primary domain (www.uwec.edu/*) will be relocated to the People subdomain (people.uwec.edu/username) or other relevant location.

A 301 redirect will be provided for up to eight weeks for any sites that need to be relocated.

That's it! No compulsory migration to CommonSpot or changes to your content are required.

Why the change?

We're currently undergoing a university-wide rebranding effort, which includes a complete redesign of our public website on the primary domain (www.uwec.edu). As part of a larger effort to better reach and engage prospective students, we're making a number of technical changes to help improve our search engine optimization (SEO), along with a refocused and refreshed design.

Google and other key search engines have, in recent years, made sweeping changes to the way they find and rank websites. Instead of forcing open Web spaces into CommonSpot to conform to the new branding guidelines and SEO requirements, we decided it would be better to relocate them off the primary domain.

This plan will allow you to continue to enjoy the flexibility of our open Web spaces with as little inconvenience as possible.

Will I lose my personal Web space?

Rest assured, no open Web space will be taken away or removed. However, it may be relocated from the primary domain (www.uwec.edu) to the People subdomain (people.uwec.edu/username) or other relevant location.

Why can't I keep the redirect indefinitely?

In the past, 301 redirects were left in place indefinitely. However, this practice isn't sustainable and won't be continued moving forward. We do realize that a shorter URL is preferred; upon request, we will provide a vanity URL via our new URL-shortening service (i.e., uwec.ly/username).

Do I have to move everything myself?

Nope! We have a team of students standing by to handle the migration process for you. This one-time service will include copying all files and folders to their new location, as well as updating any impacted absolute paths.

What is the timeline for these changes?

All active open Web spaces will be relocated by September 1, 2015. After that date, any remaining open Web spaces or redirects living on the primary domain will be archived and removed.

What should I do in the meantime?

We'll be contacting every site owner individually over the next few months. From there, a plan will be laid out that includes a migration timeline and go-live date.

What if I have a Web form on my site?

We'll also be making number of technical changes to improve security, including retiring Perl scripts on the public website on July 1, 2014. We are offering a limited-time service to migrate any Web forms or processes using our Perl scripts into an equivalent system. Since it's hard to know whether your Web forms are using Perl, it's definitely a good idea to reach out to us at the email address listed below.

Other questions or feedback?

If you have other questions or concerns, please contact Tyler Schroeder, University Web Coordinator, at schroetj@uwec.edu.